Drug Testing

Students should be subject to drug tests no matter what. What should they have to hide? If the law states that all students are innocent until proven guilty, let the students prove themselves innocent. If the students have nothing to hide then there should be no question that drug testing should be allowed. It is better to get students help and invade their privacy then to find out later that they have suffered a drug related injury. It is best to use preventative measures and upset a few students. It would be worth it.

 School officials, however, should be cautious of the searches that they do. I believe that in order to drug test a student there must be probable cause from a credible source. For example, in the case of New Jersey v. T.L.O, the principle had no right to keep rummaging through the purse looking for more evidence. He found what he had probable cause to find and should have left it at that. Reasonable cause is important. A new case, the case of Samantha Redding and Safford Middle School, there was not probable cause from a credible source. The vice principal had no right to strip search a middle school student with the intent of finding prescribed painkillers. Also, the voice of a student in trouble is not a credible source of accusation, especially if the student is not backed up by evidence.

Students, like in the case of Veronia School District v. Acton, should be subject to drug testing with probable cause. If a student wishes to represent there school in either a sport or a club they should be subject to drug testing. This makes perfect sense. If I ran a school, I would want my school represented by students who obeyed the law and didn't use illegal substances. In this case, the drug testing would be used based on "individualized suspicion of wrongdoing". If there was a probable cause to test a student then it would make sense to test them. This is not a random generalized search of a group of students. This is a scenario where one student is suspected of violating rules and this is the probable cause needed to test them.

Also, I do not believe that drug testing is an issue of privacy. What can be so embarrassing that can show up in a drug test? If you are on a medication then there should be no shame for it to come up and for one person to see it. If it proves your innocence of illegal substances then it is worth it. Students who refuse drug testing should also be a probable cause. What can be the reason a student didn't want to be drug tested other than them taking illegal drugs? If there is nothing to hide, then taking a drug test should not be a problem.

Drug testing is different than strip searching. There is a major privacy breach when it comes to stripping down a middle school student looking for prescribed medicine. Drug testing, however, is for the overall good of the community. Finding out if someone has a drug problem early can be a major life changer. Students may be unhappy about this, but it is worth it in order to get help for students who need it.